Artist’s tidal encounters help us view seaweed in a new light at two Fife exhibitions

Fife-based Cally is celebrating the easily overlooked appeal of seaweed washed up on the shore in two beach-themed exhibitions.

Beachcombers have long been drawn to seashells, driftwood and found objects, but Cally is hoping her shows will help them view seaweed in a new light.

Cally’s Tidal Encounters exhibition at Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy – which runs until August 30 – features mixed media pieces that highlight an array of forms, colours and textures. Seaweed is also the inspiration behind a second free exhibition Entanglement, which is on show at the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther until 3 September.

Both shows combine everyday coastal debris, both natural and man-made. By distilling and disentangling its complex forms, the artist has transformed something most people would simply pass by into a series of arresting artworks.

Cally collects her seaweed from beaches in the East Neuk before drying it, pressing it and sealing it with varnish or acrylic so that it does not change shape or colour.

Once the seaweed has been stabilised, Cally gets to work on it, incorporating other debris into abstract pieces that mirror the life and rhythms of the sea.

She said: “I’m drawn to things in the natural world that we don’t tend to like – those things that are not just commonplace but are unloved and undervalued. I like to take the things we take for granted – those objects that have flies buzzing around them – and give them a new context so that people can begin to appreciate them a whole lot more.”

A third seaweed-themed display – an art installation called KELP! – showcased Cally’s work in Cellardyke’s phone box Gallery 495 earlier this summer. The red of the phone box made Cally think differently about the project. Red is the colour of warning and the artist used this to highlight that the world’s kelp forests are in danger.

“Despite the challenges we face, this is an exciting time for seaweed,” says Cally. “It has many extraordinary qualities and has been used for centuries as fertiliser and food. Now it is being researched for its potential uses in medicine, bioplastics and as a carbon sink.”

After a career in journalism, public relations and fundraising, Cally Nurse completed a Masters in Fine Art & Humanities at the University of Dundee in 2021. Newburgh-based Cally describes herself as an experimental artist who uses coastal debris to explore the idea of ‘collaborative survival’. Shortlisted for a John Byrne Award in 2023, her work was described as ‘a beautiful way to intertwine the natural and industrial in a new and arresting way’.

Cally’s collages, assemblages and mixed media works depict our entangled relationships with the sea and coast asking ‘where do we go from here’?

“Seaweed is so much more than a resource we can break down into its many exploitable parts for our benefit,” says Cally. “There are around 650 different species in the UK with inspiring textures, colours and forms. It is one of the millions of companion co-species with which we share the planet and which contribute to the health of the planet – and therefore to us.”